Reverse osmosis systems with built in pressure regulation

ABSTRACT

Systems for counter top and under the counter use having a self contained reverse osmosis filter system having a manifold assemble under which parts of the self contained reverse osmosis filter system are attached, and a raw water pressure regulator also attached under the manifold assembly, the raw water pressure regulator having an inlet for coupling to a source of raw water and an outlet coupled to the inlet for the self contained reverse osmosis filter system, whereby the ratio of product water to waste water may be maximized under normal operating conditions without clogging the self contained reverse osmosis filter system if the pressure of the source of raw water is high.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/462,378 filed Aug. 18, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/030,808 filed Feb. 18, 2011 which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/306,429 filed Feb.19, 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of reverse osmosis waterfiltration systems.

2. Prior Art

U.S. Pat. No. 7,601,256, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference, discloses reverse osmosis filtration systems which arefully self-contained, highly efficient and aesthetically pleasing, andcan be used for either countertop installation or under the counterinstallation. Still further, such systems may be used as an over thecounter installation and later easily converted for an under the counterinstallation. A highly favorable ratio of product water to waste wateris obtained in such systems, in part by using raw water that passes overthe reverse osmosis membrane as squeeze water, providing a cleansingflow over the membrane every time product water is dispensed by squeezewater flow over the membrane and into the squeeze water side of thestorage tank.

However, if the ratio of product water to waste water is maximized undernormal operating conditions (normal waterline pressures), then forhigher waterline pressures, the ratio of product water to waste waterwill further increase, which can lead to clogging and a relatively shortuseful life of the reverse osmosis membrane.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a self contained reverse osmosis waterfiltration system incorporating the present invention.

FIG. 2 is rear view of the reverse osmosis water filtration system ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the manifold assembly of the reverse osmosiswater filtration system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view of the pressure regulator as mounted under the manifoldassembly of the reverse osmosis water filtration system of FIG. 1, takenon an expanded scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To avoid the problem described in the prior art section above, thepresent invention includes a pressure regulator 20, shown in FIGS. 1, 2,3 and 4. Here, as may be seen on the Figures, the pressure regulator ismounted to and under the manifold assembly 22 formed by upper and lowermanifold plates hot welded together, and spaced away from the axis ofthe storage tank 24 so as to not interfere with the storage tank 24, thestorage tank itself having a flexible bladder separating the storagetank into a product water storage area and a squeeze water area. Alsomounted to and under the manifold assembly 22 are three cartridges,cartridges 52, 54 and 56 that contain a conventional filter, a reverseosmosis filtration membrane and an activated charcoal filter and acontrol valve hydraulically controlling the operation of the reverseosmosis filtration system, respectively, cartridge 52 being behind andblocked from view by cartridge 56. In the embodiment shown, the outputof the pressure regulator 20 is coupled through line 26 to an elbow 28,which in turn is coupled to the raw water inlet on the manifold assembly22. This makes port 30 the new raw water inlet for the system.Obviously, of course, rather than plugging elbow 28 into what had beenthe raw water inlet to the system, that raw water inlet might be pluggedand the manifold assembly tapped at an appropriate place for connectionof line 26 so that line 26 and elbow 28 do not extend beyond the side ofthe manifold assembly, but rather are located entirely below theassembly.

In one embodiment, the regulator used is a model FMP60 manufactured byApex Valves Limited, a New Zealand company, though other regulators ofappropriate size and capacity may be used as desired.

The use of the pressure regulator not only avoids contamination of thereverse osmosis membrane by avoiding over production rates, but furtherreduces the pressure requirement on all pressure vessels in the systemdownstream thereof. This is particularly advantageous with respect tothe design and manufacture of the storage tank 24 by reducing its burstpressure requirements. Thus inclusion of a pressure regulator as part ofthe system to regulate the pressure at a maximum of, for example, 75-85psi allows the product water to waste water ratio to be maximized fornormal operating conditions without risking premature failure of thereverse osmosis membrane in those fewer installations where pressures ashigh as 125 psi could be encountered. The advantage of the integrationof the pressure regulator into the system design in comparison to simplyusing a separate inline pressure regulator is the fact that one of thefeatures of the reverse osmosis system of the foregoing patent is itsability to be used essentially interchangeably as an above counter andunder counter device and the use of a separate inline regulator whenusing the system above counter would be unsightly and a sales deterrent,yet operation without the pressure regulator is disadvantageous.

While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosedand described herein for purposes of illustration and not for purposesof limitation, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes in form and detail may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A reverse osmosis filtration system comprising,as a single self-contained assembly: a manifold assembly with a lowerside to which parts of the reverse osmosis filtration system areattached, including a product water storage tank, cartridges thatcontain a reverse osmosis filtration membrane and other filters, and acontrol valve hydraulically controlling the operation of the reverseosmosis filtration system; and a raw water pressure regulator containedwithin the self-contained reverse osmosis filtration system and coupledto the lower side of the manifold assembly, the raw water pressureregulator having a raw water inlet for coupling to a source of raw waterand a pressure regulated outlet coupled to the manifold assembly; theraw water pressure regulator operating independently of the controlvalve.
 2. The reverse osmosis filtration system of claim 1, wherein theraw water pressure regulator is set to a regulated pressure thatmaximizes a ratio of product water to waste water under normal operatingconditions without clogging the reverse osmosis filtration membrane. 3.The reverse osmosis filtration system of claim 2, wherein the regulatedpressure is between 510 and 590 kPa.
 4. The reverse osmosis filtrationsystem of claim 2, wherein the product water storage tank has a burstpressure selected based on the regulated pressure.
 5. The reverseosmosis filtration system of claim 4, wherein the raw water pressureregulator is spaced away from an axis of the product water storage tankso as to not interfere with the coupling of the product water storagetank to the lower side of the manifold assembly.
 6. The reverse osmosisfiltration system of claim 1, wherein the pressure regulated outlet ofthe raw water pressure regulator is coupled to the manifold assembly sothat the raw water pressure regulator and the coupling to the lower sideof the manifold assembly are located entirely below the manifoldassembly.
 7. A reverse osmosis filtration system comprising, as a singleself-contained assembly: a manifold assembly having an upper manifoldplate and a lower manifold plate hot welded together; the manifoldassembly having a lower side to which parts of the reverse osmosisfiltration system are attached, including a product water storage tank,cartridges that contain a reverse osmosis filtration membrane and otherfilters, and a control valve hydraulically controlling the operation ofthe reverse osmosis filtration system; and a raw water pressureregulator contained within the self-contained reverse osmosis filtrationsystem and coupled to the lower side of the manifold assembly, the rawwater pressure regulator having a raw water inlet for coupling to asource of raw water and a pressure regulated outlet coupled to themanifold assembly; the raw water pressure regulator operatingindependently of the control valve.
 8. The reverse osmosis filtrationsystem of claim 7, wherein the raw water pressure regulator is set to aregulated pressure that maximizes a ratio of product water to wastewater under normal operating conditions without clogging the reverseosmosis filtration membrane.
 9. The reverse osmosis filtration system ofclaim 8, wherein the regulated pressure is between 510 and 590 kPa. 10.The reverse osmosis filtration system of claim 8, wherein the productwater storage tank has a burst pressure selected based on the regulatedpressure.
 11. The reverse osmosis filtration system of claim 10, whereinthe raw water pressure regulator is spaced away from an axis of theproduct water storage tank so as to not interfere with the coupling ofthe product water storage tank to the lower side of the manifoldassembly.
 12. The reverse osmosis filtration system of claim 7, whereinthe pressure regulated outlet of the raw water pressure regulator iscoupled to the manifold assembly so that the raw water pressureregulator and the coupling to the lower side of the manifold assemblyare located entirely below the manifold assembly.
 13. A reverse osmosisfiltration system comprising, as a single self-contained assembly: amanifold assembly with a lower side to which parts of the reverseosmosis filtration system are attached, including a product waterstorage tank having a flexible bladder therein for separating squeezewater and product water, cartridges that contain a reverse osmosisfiltration membrane and other filters, and a control valve hydraulicallycontrolling the operation of the reverse osmosis filtration system; anda raw water pressure regulator contained within the self-containedreverse osmosis filtration system and coupled to the lower side of themanifold assembly, the raw water pressure regulator having a raw waterinlet for coupling to a source of raw water and a pressure regulatedoutlet coupled to the manifold assembly; the raw water pressureregulator operating independently of the control valve.
 14. The reverseosmosis filtration system of claim 13, wherein the raw water pressureregulator is set to a regulated pressure that maximizes a ratio ofproduct water to waste water under normal operating conditions withoutclogging the reverse osmosis filtration membrane.
 15. The reverseosmosis filtration system of claim 14, wherein the regulated pressure isbetween 510 and 590 kPa.
 16. The reverse osmosis filtration system ofclaim 14, wherein the product water storage tank has a burst pressureselected based on the regulated pressure.
 17. The reverse osmosisfiltration system of claim 16, wherein the raw water pressure regulatoris spaced away from an axis of the product water storage tank so as tonot interfere with the coupling of the product water storage tank to thelower side of the manifold assembly.
 18. The reverse osmosis filtrationsystem of claim 13, wherein the pressure regulated outlet of the rawwater pressure regulator is coupled to the manifold assembly so that theraw water pressure regulator and the coupling to the lower side of themanifold assembly are located entirely below the manifold assembly. 19.A reverse osmosis filtration system comprising, as a singleself-contained assembly: a manifold assembly having an upper manifoldplate and a lower manifold plate hot welded together; the manifoldassembly having a lower side to which parts of the reverse osmosisfiltration system are attached, including a product water storage tankhaving a flexible bladder therein for separating squeeze water andproduct water, cartridges that contain a reverse osmosis filtrationmembrane and other filters, and a control valve hydraulicallycontrolling the operation of the reverse osmosis filtration system; anda raw water pressure regulator contained within the self-containedreverse osmosis filtration system and coupled to the lower side of themanifold assembly, the raw water pressure regulator having a raw waterinlet for coupling to a source of raw water and a pressure regulatedoutlet coupled to the manifold assembly; the raw water pressureregulator operating independently of the control valve.
 20. The reverseosmosis filtration system of claim 19, wherein the raw water pressureregulator is set to a regulated pressure that maximizes a ratio ofproduct water to waste water under normal operating conditions withoutclogging the reverse osmosis filtration membrane.
 21. The reverseosmosis filtration system of claim 20, wherein the regulated pressure isbetween 510 and 590 kPa.
 22. The reverse osmosis filtration system ofclaim 20, wherein the product water storage tank has a burst pressureselected based on the regulated pressure.
 23. The reverse osmosisfiltration system of claim 22, wherein the raw water pressure regulatoris spaced away from an axis of the product water storage tank so as tonot interfere with the coupling of the product water storage tank to thelower side of the manifold assembly.
 24. The reverse osmosis filtrationsystem of claim 19, wherein the pressure regulated outlet of the rawwater pressure regulator is coupled to the manifold assembly so that theraw water pressure regulator and the coupling to the lower side of themanifold assembly are located entirely below the manifold assembly.